Dixon earns his first Indy 500 pole

Scott Dixon will start from the pole position for the 92nd running of
the Indianapolis 500. He averaged 226.366 mph over the ten mile
qualifying run, earning his third pole this season and the third at the
Indianapolis 500 for Chip Ganassi ...

Scott Dixon will start from the pole position for the 92nd running of
the Indianapolis 500. He averaged 226.366 mph over the ten mile
qualifying run, earning his third pole this season and the third at the
Indianapolis 500 for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Pole Winner Scott Dixon.

Photo by Michael C. Johnson.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," said Dixon after the signal ending Pole Day
qualifying ensured the Kiwi had the pole. "It means a lot. You know, it's
not just for me. I think Chip and Mike (Hull) and all the guys in the team
are adamant on putting up a strong fight for this year's '500.' You know,
all the time that they put in back at the workshop and the guys that a lot
of time you don't even see at the track, it's a lot of effort from them. And
from me a lot of thanks goes to them."

Dan Wheldon, Dixon's teammate, will start from the second position. "We've
been playing poker here for a lot of years now," said team owner Ganassi.
"Sometimes you're holding all the aces and sometimes you're bluffing. Today
we had a good hand and today we were holding all the aces."

Both Ganassi drivers practised at speeds over 227 mph in the morning session
but speeds fell off without help from other cars while the qualifying
attempts were made. Dixon went out early, posting a speed of 225.178
mph, which held up for 20 minutes before Danica Patrick ripped off four
laps at 225.197 mph.

An hour into qualifying Wheldon claimed the top spot with a speed of
225.840 mph and held that position through challenges from Tony Kanaan
and Helio Castroneves.

With two and a half hours remaining in qualifying, Ryan Briscoe
withdrew the car he had qualified at 224.833 mph to make a second attempt.
The run was successful, knocking Wheldon from the pole with a speed of
226.080 mph.

Dixon was the very next car on the track, trimming more than two-tenths
of a second from Briscoe's time and upping the pole speed to 226.366
mph. "I turned around and Dixon was taking the pole from me," said
Briscoe. "I thought I had a really good run. The car was balanced really
well for the downforce level we trimmed out to, and it was a solid gain.
Dixon put out a pretty quick time there."

With more than two hours remaining after Dixon completed his run, the
Ganassi team expected challenges from Team Penske and Andretti Green
Racing. The only challenge came from Wheldon.

"For me, I think amongst the drivers it means a lot," said Dixon on what it
meant to earn the pole, his first at Indianapolis. "If you talk to any of
the drivers out there, they know how on the limit you are, and for a general
person I don't think that they realize that stuff. So, you know, I think
between the small group of drivers and obviously people like Chip that have
raced cars before, it means a lot to them just because, you know, you're
definitely right on the limit and giving it your all, you know. It's
definitely right at the top of accomplishments that I've done."

Wheldon would wait an hour to attempt to knock his teammate from the pole,
making his run with 20 minutes remaining in the allotted six hours. Wheldon
trimmed more than three-tenths of a second from his previous run but his
speed (225.840 mph) was only good enough for second starting position.

"It was a great team effort," said a disappointed Wheldon. "The biggest
thing is to be happy for the team. They did a terrific job."

Briscoe's speed held up for third while his Team Penske teammate
Castroneves (225.733 mph) made only one attempt and will start fourth.

Ganassi drivers each made two runs for the pole. Additional qualifying
attempts from Castroneves, Kanaan and Patrick never materialized.

The Andretti Green Racing trio of Patrick, Kanaan and Marco Andretti
qualified fifth through seventh, respectively. Andretti made a second
qualifying run, improving his speed slightly from 224.162 mph to 224.417
mph. AGR's Hideki Mutoh made two runs after his first (223.653 mph) was
disallowed following a post-qualifying technical inspection. Mutoh's
second run (223.887 mph) placed him ninth on the starting grid.

Kanaan was philosophical about his qualifying run. "Do I want the pole?
Yes, I do. Is it going to be a big deal if we don't get it? Not really.
Five years ago, I came here and just wanted to be the fastest guy. Then
you race and you realize that that really doesn't matter. I try to look
at the big picture."

Vitor Meira (224.346 mph) claimed the eighth starting spot while Ed
Carpenter (223.835 mph) and Tomas Scheckter (223.496 mph), who made
two runs, filed the final two spots on the first day of qualifying.
Scheckter's second run effectively lowered the bubble speed as his first
attempt netted a speed of 223.779 mph.

Graham Rahal thought he had a shot at knocking Scheckter out the field
with his lower speed but the team was not prepared with new tires. He
never made a third run. Rahal waved off his second run and just missed
securing a place in the top-11 starting positions with his first run at
223.355 mph.

"Scheckter lowered the bump speed so much that I think we could have
made it," said Rahal. Several teams pulled out of the qualifying line at
the last minute, presenting Rahal with enough time to make a third run.

"They [Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing] should have told me before I got my
helmet on," Rahal continued. "They waited until I got ready and they
were like. 'Oh well by the way, we don't have tires.' They didn't think
we were going to make it, so we didn't bring tires, and that is my
point. You need to be prepared."

Rahal's NHLR team will be prepared when second day qualifying fills positions
12-22 at noon Sunday. Rahal is slated for the fourth run of the day.

Sunday, May 11 update:

Rain continued to put a damper on the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500,
canceling today's practice and more importantly, the second day of
qualifying attempts. The 11-car field stands as is with no further attempts
today due to the constant rain storms.

The teams and drivers have two days off until practice resumes on Wednesday
for three days plus Saturday morning's final practice prior to qualifying.
There are now only two days to make it onto the starting grid, May 17
(Saturday) followed on Sunday by the famous 'Bump Day'. Of course, the
weather needs to cooperate for the 33 car field to be determined.